Surviving the War
by Nature9000
Summary: Nearly three years after the country's worst civil war, Sam leaves her shelter and searches for the survivors and recounts the tragic beginning of the fight. She encounters an organization set to rebuild the nation and learns what took place while away.


Surviving A Battle

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: Read it and enjoy. It's not meant to mean anything, rather than it just being something that came to mind.

-WALKING AMONG THE ASHES-

Sam awoke to a silent world, finally the rumbling of explosions from above had ceased. Of course, they had stopped about a week ago. She gulped silently and stepped on a stair case, wondering if she should exit to the ground level or not. In her hand, she held a shotgun, knowing that she had to keep it with her for protection. With her own eyes, she had seen her own family slaughtered like animals. As she slowly stepped up, the scene played out in her mind.

_"Where is Dad?" Sam asked as her mom pulled her in the closet. Her mother held her close and whispered in her ear. This fear had been going on for a month; it had been that long since she'd been to school even._

_"Shh, it's going to be okay, just relax," Mrs. Puckett said in a quiet voice. "We should have been prepared for something like this…" Sam heard her father shout from outside the closet, so she quickly opened the door and screamed at the sight. Her father was holding her little sister in his arms, she was bleeding, not too badly, but still it wasn't a good sight._

_"They've set the house afire!" Mr. Puckett exclaimed. "Get Sam to the cellar and lead her through the tunnels, I can't lose you two!" Mrs. Puckett had tears in her eyes as she ran to her husband. "I said go! I'll take care of Angie." Mrs. Puckett nodded and grabbed Sam's wrist, pulling her away from the scene as explosions racked the foundation. Sam looked back and her eyes widened when she saw a beam fall on her father, piercing him in the chest. "Ugh! Damn it."_

_"Don't look back, Sam! Keep running! You're our future, you're the important one, we need to keep you safe!" Sam's eyes had bitter hot tears escaping; she didn't know how to respond. Mrs. Puckett stopped by another closet and opened it, she reached in and pulled out a shotgun. "You need this, I'll take the pistol." Just then, a brick flew threw the window and narrowly missed Mrs. Puckett. "Die you bastard!" Mrs. Puckett fired a gunshot at the attackers and grunted as she felt a bullet hit her leg. "Damn it, keep going Sam!" Sam nodded and ran, her mother following close behind. Once they reached the entrance of the cellar, Sam opened it and stepped in. "Get in there, and don't come out until everything is over."_

_"What about you, Mom?" Sam asked._

_"Shut up and do as I say, I am not important!" Mrs. Puckett growled and turned around, firing her pistol at an unseen enemy. "I'm closing the doors!"_

_"What!" Mrs. Puckett started to close the cellar doors and looked at Sam with a look of love and protection._

_"Go through the tunnels until you reach the deepest room, which is where you will be safest." She then closed the doors. Sam heard the sound of the cellar doors locking, the only way to open them now was from the inside. She heard a gunshot and then a scream, it was her mothers. Sam gasped and knew that her mother had just been killed, now she just had to go into the safe room._

She was shocked by how many rations there had been inside the place. She didn't know how long she'd been in the cellar's deepest room for, but she knew it had to be months, since she took care to save the rations. If anything, it had been nearly thirty months. She'd lost count. It was hard to lose track of her friends, but really that was all she could do.

For the entirety of her time spent underground, she was able to hear explosions and noises of genocide. Surely, it was the end of the world, but she had no way of knowing. All she could do was try to get the images of the dead from her mind. She had been in school when it all started. Nobody knew who started the civil war, all anyone knew was that the country had split in two. It was white against black, man against woman, and every other ancient battle anyone could think of.

White, black, Mexican supremacist groups, Man and woman supremacist groups, and various others had sprouted and waged war on another only because of something that really didn't need to result in such a civil dispute. Why create war when everyone was human? Man woman, black white, pro life pro choice, it didn't and shouldn't matter. Everyone was the same, everyone was human. So why did the war start? Some assumed it to be the media, some think it was politics, some even thought it was the fact that someone had an abortion and someone didn't agree. Sam narrowed her eyes and took another step forward. "Crap."

With her gun in hand, she made her way to an upper level of the cellar, she still had a ways to go to reach the top. Her mother's selfless act had really saved her life, she could only hope others were still alive. _"Not much chance of that…"_ Why was this genocide needed? Why couldn't people accept people and not hate? Why did there have to be race issues, gender issues, and issues of all sorts. Sam hated the nonsensical violence, there was no real reason for the bloodshed to begin. It first started in Seattle when she was in school, Freddie had not arrived.

_"Okay class, here's what we're going to do today," Mrs. Briggs said while looking across the room. "You are going to…Samantha, what are you doing!" Sam was eating food in class, but she couldn't help it. Carly was seated next to her and rolling her eyes. "Samantha, you have thirty seconds to put the food away or-" A large explosion rang through the school and Mrs. Briggs nearly fell over, she looked to the door and quickly forgot about the food. "What the hell?"_

_A loud thumping sound was heard in the halls and the students all moved underneath their desks. The banging noises grew louder with each second, whatever or whoever was in the school was getting closer. Mrs. Briggs ran to the door and looked out, she saw flames quickly shooting down the halls. "No! It's come to Seattle!" She quickly ran to her desk and looked at the kids. "Children, I want every one of you to get out of the windows and make your way home _carefully_! Ever since this country split into pieces, we've wondered when the war would come here."_

_Sam saw Carly make a break for the window, not waiting for Mrs. Briggs to finish what she was saying. Carly jumped out of the window and screamed out as she landed on the ground. Gibby stood up and looked out the window, he could confirm that Carly was still alive and running down the street. Sam lay flat on the ground and pretended to be dead, hoping that if anyone came in, they wouldn't hit her. She only listened as Mrs. Briggs explained everything that the country had gone though since November. _

_Suddenly, the door flew open and Sam opened her eyes to see Mrs. Briggs pelted with gunfire. Gibby fell next. Around her, all the students started to fall. She kept her eyes clenched shut, hoping she would not be hit. The girl right next to her screamed out and Sam cringed as she felt blood seeping underneath her. After a short amount of time, the attackers left the room, but not before they set it up in flames. "Sam come on!" Someone shouted. Sam looked up and saw Jonah with Valerie._

_"You're alive!" Sam exclaimed. Jonah and Valerie both looked exhausted, this was reasonable since they had come from another room. She got up and ran to their side. _

_"I knew this was going to happen," Jonah said while muttering under his breath. "It was a matter of time before Seattle was hit. I'm just surprised we made it this long." Jonah led the girls slowly out of the school, making sure no one could hit them. He knew no one was aiming at them, it just depended on whoever was in the crossfire. They made it to the school doors and Jonah quickly shoved the girls out. "You know where to go, Valerie!"_

_"What about you?" Valerie asked in a worried voice._

_"I'm going to hold them off as long as I can, stay safe!" Valerie nodded and started pulling Sam away from the scene. Sam was shocked enough as it was, during their run, she had seen the mutilated body of Rueben. Jeremy had been nearby as well, he had a single gunshot wound to the head. She saw so many of her beloved friends lying on the ground in heaps, she just couldn't believe something of this gravity could happen._

She had been separated from Valerie, so she went back home. "I still can't believe such a thing could happen," Sam muttered as she stepped onto the upper levels of the cellar. Seattle had been one of the last cities in America to be hit, and it was one of the last to be laid to ruin. Governors, Mayors, Senators, and almost every politician and regular citizen in America had fought in the worst civil war ever. "So what if someone is black, white, religious, non religious, male, female, who really gives a flying crap? We're all the same underneath!" Sam moaned slightly and felt the top of the cellar, it was the only place that didn't have any lights. She found the lock and undid it.

She grunted as she opened the doors, she stepped out of the cellar and breathed in the air for the first time. "It tastes like crap." Fortunately she had enough light underground that it didn't hurt her eyes. Though it didn't do much for the tan she once had. She sighed and looked toward the ground, she could see a skeleton lying on the ground. "Mom…" The tears did not come, she had already spent all the tears she could have spent. She looked around her and frowned, it was nothing but a desolate wasteland. Her home was no longer standing, nor was any surrounding homes. They had all been laid to waste and crumpled.

"Why the hell did this happen, can someone just tell me that?" She walked across the ground and held her shotgun close to her chest, it was still loaded with ammo. If anyone or anything was left in the world, she would not be caught by surprise.

_"Am I the last survivor in Seattle?"_ It used to be where she could look around and see several buildings near her, but she couldn't see a single standing building anywhere within eyeshot. She saw empty cars and overturned vehicles, she could see several skeletons and bodies lying around. "Hello! Is there anyone left alive!"

No response. "I didn't think so." Where had Freddie been when it all started? He wasn't in school that day, so was he even alive? Jonah said he knew something was going to happen eventually, so did that mean he had planned for it? These questions and more may have been meaningless by now. _"It seems like people took the presidential election too far, they should have been more careful…more accepting."_ Sam turned around to see a wall shooting up. It was the cliff that she used to climb up, when she did, she could see almost all of Seattle.

Sam climbed up the Cliffside and gave a small sigh, she was glad that she had been able to work out while underground. Her father had once put some workout equipment underground, making it possible for someone to actually stay fit.

Once she made it to the top, she placed her hand over her eyes and looked out, hoping to see anything at all. What she did see was miles of brown patches on the ground, along with non moving vehicles and various other mechanisms. No buildings were in sight except for one, in the distance she could see half of the Bushwell Plaza still standing. "What the hell happened to this place?" Sam shifted her eyes to the side and saw a newspaper blowing in the wind. _"The blue skies are gone, the green grass is brown, but the wind still blows. The silent and mournful wind…"_

Sam sighed and grabbed the newspaper, it seemed to have been printed early on. She read it and threw it back to the ground. _"Little piece of crap didn't tell me anything that I can't already see. Well, other than it predicted the country was going to ruins if someone didn't stop the bloodshed…it looks like they didn't stop it."_ She sighed and started to climb down the cliff, she needed to get to Bushwell Plaza if she could. _"Freddie…"_ She hoped he was somewhere, but there probably wasn't much chance of it. Same was said for Carly.

Once she reached ground level, she was starting to doubt that anyone was alive. _"What if I'm the last one left alive in the entire country? Is that possible?"_ She walked back to her house and started trying to dig through the rubble. After digging for about two hours, she found one skeleton, she figured it to be her father. _"Angie? Where are you? Shouldn't you be with Dad?"_ She could hear the mournful wind once more, she was starting to hate it. _"If I'm going to be alone…"_

She scoffed and started walking down the street, it would be about a five minute walk to the Bushwell Plaza, the school would be in the middle. She managed to pass the school and look at it, two thirds of it had been blown to rubble, the rest looked pretty damaged as well. "The ruins of the Seattle…" Just by looking, she could see Principal Franklin's office. It had burn marks all over the wall. The desk still sat in place and hunched over it was a skeleton. Then was when Sam praised her father for putting an underground library of books in the cellar, she used it to gather information, she could figure out if that was Principal Franklin.

She walked into the school and into the office, she started to inspect the skeleton's pelvic bone. It seemed clear that it was female, meaning it had to be Franklin's secretary or a female teacher. There were too many skeleton's in the school to bother with inspecting, so she chose to head toward the apartment area. Upon growing closer to the apartments, she could see a skeleton hanging out of a window, it was the Benson's apartment window.

_"Freddie…that's either you or your mother…"_ She closed her eyes and sighed as she came to the steps of the Bushwell apartments, she entered and spotted a skeleton lying in the lobby. She titled her head slightly and figured it to be Lewbert. She slowly shook her head and glanced over at the elevator, since the top of the apartments had been blown away, then the elevator probably didn't work. _"Then it looks like the stairs are the only accessible way."_ Sam walked to the stairs and opened the door, entering to look at the desolation. _"Figures, it's all crumpled up…at least I can still go up them."_

Sam climbed the stairs to the floor level that she was looking for, she walked down the hall and stood in between Freddie and Carly's doors. Only it wasn't like every time before, this time it was with a sense of dread. She first opened Freddie's door and entered. She walked to the window where the skeleton was and slowly pulled it in, making sure it didn't break apart. She carefully rested it on the floor and looked at it.

"Who are you?" She knelt down and looked at the pelvis bone, she could see that it was shaped like that of a human female. "Mrs. Benson." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "You were a good woman and probably confused by what was going on. I don't suppose you could just come to life and tell me if Freddie and Carly are okay." She stood up and looked around the apartment, it seemed like a tornado had been through there. "Time to check and see if Carly ever made it home, or if she didn't…" She exited the apartment and entered Carly's apartment, it looked worse off than the Benson's.

Lying on completely torn couch was a human skeleton, it was too short to be Spencer but too tall to be Carly. Therefore, other than identifying it as male, she couldn't create a positive identification. She looked over at the refrigerator and sighed. "Well, I wouldn't eat anything in there now." She sighed and slowly made her way out of the place, she didn't trust the foundation of the building. She made her way down the flights of stairs and finally out of the building all together. "What now?" She sat on a step and sighed as she looked up. "This wasn't foreseen or predicted."

She looked over to see a two year old boy walking down the street, he was picking up anything and eyeing it intensely, as if checking to see if it was food. Sam quickly stood up and the boy looked at her with wide eyes. "Hey, you there, what's your name!" Sam shouted out. The boy's eyes grew with fear and Sam gave a small sigh. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know where your mommy and daddy are."

"Mommy!" The boy shouted. Sam's eyes grew wide as the boy took off in a run. Sam sighed and quickly ran after him, she knew if he was calling for his mother, that meant there was someone else alive somewhere. The only question was who, and who would have a kid during the wartime? The boy started chucking rocks at her, but she quickly dodged them. "Leave me alone! Mommy, help me, there's someone after me!" She saw the boy run to a woman with brown hair going to her shoulders, the woman wrapped her arm around the boy and held a gun out toward her.

"Who are you?" The woman asked while narrowing her eyes. "My son is playing a game, do not attempt to harm my child or I will shoot at you. If you must know my name, I am Valerie Williams, secretary of the Coalition." Sam's eyes widened and a smile formed at her lips, it was a friendly face. Of course, it might be harder for Valerie to recognize her. Valerie blinked as she stared at Sam, she slowly lowered her gun and her mouth opened. "Wait a minute…Sam? I-It can't be, we thought you were dead!"

"If I'm dead, then where did I end up?" Sam asked in a quiet voice. "Also, _what_ the hell happened here and what is the Coalition?" Valerie laughed lightly and rubbed her son's head.

"It's okay Jonah, she's safe."

"So that's your son, Jonah's the father?"

"Yes." Valerie gave a nod and walked toward Sam. "You could stand to use a bath."

"No crap…I must smell worse than…well actually I think the dead still smells worse." Valerie nodded and gave a slight frown.

"Where have you been all this time, Sam? When we got separated, I thought we lost you for good."

"I've been in the cellar for quite some time, just how long have I been gone?"

"The war ended a week ago. Everyone pretty much killed themselves. You've been gone for two years and seven months…It still seems hard to believe that it took only two years and seven months for this country to literally turn to hell. Come on." Valerie started walking with Sam, Jonah followed and stayed close to Valerie's side. "I tell him never to wander far from my side. Though, it isn't like I wouldn't be able to find him. Look around you, it just looks deserted. After a week, our leader still wanted us to search Seattle, Jonah took literally the phrase 'under every stone'."

"Hah. What were you looking for, other survivors?"

"Yes, and you…after almost three years, we would have thought you were dead. The Coalition started nearly three years ago. Anyone coupled up at the time was supposed to have a child, so Jonah and I did."

"Did he make it out of the school?" Valerie nodded he head and gave a small frown.

"He was the vice president of the Coalition, but he died about three months ago." Sam gasped and looked down.

"Valerie, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay."

"Valerie, what happened while I was gone? Who all is alive?"

"Not many people are left, if anything…there are roughly five hundred survivors that have been found in the country during this one week. We're still looking for more survivors, we're sure there are others. When you left, the massacre got worse…bombs, heavy artillery, even some major explosives were used. The government had to call in the military to put an end to it, but not even that worked out. The one that had been elected president, well pretty much the entire government is gone now. All that is left is the Coalition, stuck picking up the broken pieces."

"Oh my god…"

"Children have to be placed under care of other families and so forth, this could have been avoided if people had been more accepting from the start, but that was pretty much impossible." Sam frowned and looked toward the sky. "Well, you should be eighteen now, so at least Angie has a place to live."

"What!" Sam nearly jumped in shock, her sister was alive. Valerie gave a small smile and nodded her head.

"When the Puckett household had been attacked, Jake and Jonah were ordered to go in and find out if anyone was alive. They saw Angie and took her to the base where Shannon and Carly worked to resuscitate her."

"Carly is alive too?" Valerie frowned and slowly shook her head, Sam's mouth fell and Valerie crossed her arms over.

"Carly perished about two months ago, she was protecting her daughter. She and Shane had a couple children, by the way. Speaking of Jake, he's the new vice president of the Coalition…and he's in Seattle as well. By the way, Spencer is alive and well."

"Okay, that's good to know."

"Principal Franklin survived and is currently helping lead the Coalition. We're basically just a group of survivors who were trying to save others and fight in order to protect everything. We basically believe strictly with the constitution. That's how it grew chaotic, people started interpreting and rewriting the constitution so many times that things just got out of hand. Now look where we're at."

"Yeah, if only things had been a bit different."

"Yeah, the leader is pretty lenient, but at the same time, he's strict."

"Oh, nice leader…"

"Yeah, well he's got every reason to be." Sam shrugged and crossed her arms as they turned the corner. They spotted Jake next to a small plane, he was leaning carefully against it and had his arms crossed. His hair had been cut to a flat top style and he had a scar on his chin. His left eye was even covered with an eye patch. Jake spotted Valerie and Sam, he pushed himself from the plane and walked toward the girls.

"Valerie, you've found someone," Jake said in a quiet voice. He looked at Sam and recognized her, he did not smile but turned toward the plane. "Let's go, the pilot is waiting."

"You remember Harper, right Sam?" Sam nodded and Valerie gave a slight smirk. "He's the pilot, he pretty much has control of all the airways as well. By the way, I should let you know, some people have been hardened over time. Jake for instance is very rough right now. His wife actually made him softer, she still does."

"Who is his wife?" Sam asked as she, Valerie and Jonah followed Jake onto the plane.

"Stephanie of course, she's a very kind spirit. Oh, and Shannon's a mom as well, she birthed a child by Rueben."

"Wait, I thought Rueben was killed the day they attacked the school."

"He was." Valerie and Sam sat down in the plane seats as Jake moved toward the cockpit. "The leader foresaw what was happening and started getting everyone together. He wasn't able to get everyone, since he only had a couple weeks trying to communicate. For some reason, he was unable to warn you. He said that there was a chance no one would survive and that the next generation should arise, he predicted that at the rate things were going, the war would destroy the country in a few meager years. We needed to have some children."

"I see. That was so if anyone died, the children could take care and rebuild society?" Valerie gave a slight nod and Sam jumped when she felt the plane lifting from the ground. "Uh, how did Bushwell Plaza remain standing?"

"Lewbert and a small army made sure no one destroyed it, it was home base for a while. He died a while ago, but the apartment building still stood. Grandfather Shay had been in charge of the military, but he died…"

"Where did he die?"

"In the Shay's apartment..." So the skeleton on the couch was most likely Grandpa Shay, Sam couldn't believe the loss of lives that had been going on. She knew these people. "Some people, like Jake, have seen so much death that they don't smile much anymore. Not even the leader smiles, but I get the feeling he will soon."

"Maybe, do you think he'll have to take charge of the country?"

"Until proper help arrives…He's waiting until we're sure all the survivors have been found before he actually does anything. In about two weeks, he'll ask other countries to move in and help with reconstruction. As for now, he is in charge of everything."

"It sounds like he's got a tough job ahead of him."

"Yeah, and he's pretty stressed if you think about it. He's been having everyone search Seattle all week, despite the fact that we were sure that all the survivors had been found. Apparently we were wrong."

"I've stayed underground all week, I needed to make sure it was good before I could come out."

"Yeah, well I for one am glad that you're out." After some time, the plane landed at a large building, it was surprisingly still intact. "Don't know how this building was kept up over the years, but we're using this as a central area. We're going to start rebuilding everything soon…" Once out of the plane, Harper took Jonah and led him inside. Sam watched with a raised eyebrow, but Valerie merely shrugged. "Harper will lead him to where the other children are." Jake stepped next to Valerie and looked toward the door.

"Angie is with the leader right now," Jake said in a quiet voice. "Let's get inside." Valerie nodded and smiled as she and Sam followed Jake into the large building. "Let's go to the top floor. We'll find him there."

"Okay." Sam stared at Jake with a sorrowful look, she didn't like that he seemed so uptight. Valerie glanced over and smiled. "Hey don't worry, it's just the stress, shock and jitters right now. Everyone will…well, we can't really say anyone will be back to normal, but everyone will be someone easier to deal with when things calm down."

"I hope so." Valerie patted Sam's back and nodded slowly. The group entered the elevator and rode it to the top floor.

"Well, now that you're here, things should become calmer, rather than the high tension that everything has been. The leader especially should be calmer now." Sam had forgotten, she wanted to know who the leader was, but that would be later. She really wanted to know about Freddie's fate and whatever happened to him.

"Valerie, can I ask something?" Valerie gave a nod as the doors opened, the two girls then followed Jake down the hall, at the end of it was a normal looking door, but there was something about it that made Sam's heart start beating. "Do you know what happened to Freddie?" Valerie sighed and crossed her arms while looking straight ahead. "He never came to school that day, and I found his mom hunched over a window."

"Yeah, Mrs. Benson died early on. She had been trying to escape from the window, but had been shot in the back. She was leaning over it, but died right there…it was sad, really."

"Yeah…but still, what happened to-" Jake opened the door and Sam stared ahead, seeing the back of a man who was looking out the window. He had on what looked like a suit and his hair was slightly messy. Standing next to him was Angie, she looked perfect. "Angie!"

"Sammy!" Angie exclaimed. She was thirteen, but couldn't help calling Sam by that nickname. She quickly ran to her sister and wrapped her arms around her, Sam wrapped her arms around Angie and smiled. She couldn't believe it, the last time she had seen her, Angie looked like she was already dead.

"Sam was found wandering around in Seattle," Jake said as he walked next to the man. Sam looked up and saw the man turn around, her eyes grew large when she saw who it was. She was staring into the eyes of Freddie Benson, he had a bit of stubble as well. Now, for the first time in probably one year, the tears she once thought were dried up flowed.

"Freddie!" Sam exclaimed. Freddie gave a soft smile when he realized he wasn't seeing things. He took a step forward and Sam quickly wrapped her arms around him. Surprisingly, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips and smiled at him. "I've missed you so much, I thought you were dead! By the way, that stubble on your face…not too bad…" Jake saw Freddie smiling and smiled as well, for the first time in some amount of time.

"Sam, we've looked everywhere," Freddie said in a quiet voice. "Where have you been all this time?"

"Hiding out in some underground tunnels…Where have you been, _dork_." Sam smirked and Freddie let out a laugh. Jake, Valerie, and Angie all stared in shock, it had been a long time since Freddie actually laughed.

"God knows how long I've waited to hear you say that. When I found out your home had been attacked, I immediately sent Jonah and Jake over to find out if you were alive. You weren't even found, and Valerie said she lost you while on the way here."

"Nice to know you didn't give up hope that I was alive. I'm surprised you cared so much."

"Why wouldn't I care about you? I loved you and I still do." Freddie placed his hands on Sam's waist and kissed her forehead. Sam blushed lightly and Freddie merely smirked. "It's great to have you back, Sam." He frowned and let out a slow sigh. "It is unfortunate to say that Carly is no longer alive."

"I know, Valerie told me. So, what happened to all the supremacy groups?"

"They're gone. The coalition made sure to wipe out all the groups that stood to destroy the country. Each of them broke the constitution." Freddie sighed and walked over to the window, gazing out at the desolate lands. He narrowed his eyes and stared up at the grey skies. "It's going to take years to rebuild all of this, and it's going to take the help of all the other nations. Everyone must work together and stand united, as one nation. There will be no more supremacist groups. We've had to wipe out all of them, such as the KKK, Black Panthers, National Feminist Association, Male Supremacy groups, we can't have these types of issues in this country anymore. Look where they have led us, to ruin…"

"They might rise up again."

"Yes, but it will be a long time before that happens. The people in those groups took the first amendment too far, and with that election, they went crazy. Their idea of protesting just didn't help anything and it murdered several innocents. I can only hope that when the time comes for these kinds of groups to return to this country, it will be in a less violent and more prosperous way. We don't want another civil war like this again, we do not need this country to be nearly wiped off of the map again!" Sam nodded and stepped next to Freddie, slipping her arm around his.

"What about the media?"

"The media…surely as you've seen the news, they do not focus on the issues entirely. This last thing, they focused on only one person. Proper media should focus on everything, not leaving things to be centralized. It would be better to go back to the newspapers than to go to the televised news. There should be a rule, politics should not be dirty. Politics should be clean and fair."

"Yeah, I would agree with that. So, how many people have been left homeless?" Freddie crossed his arms and turned his back toward the window.

"Probably every family in America…This building alone houses the members of the Coalition and their children, but we can't house everyone yet. We've found there to be around five hundred survivors found in this country, we believe there will be much more. We've done what we can in providing jobs and whatnot, but that's about all we can do. Our country has only a certain amount of money left, it will take millions, perhaps billions of dollars to reconstruct this country."

"Here's a thought, what about starting over?" Freddie raised his eyebrow and Sam let out a small sigh. "Overpopulation may not be a problem, once you find out how many survivors are. Instead of spending billions to rebuild everything, why not take only a few states to start out with, like the original thirteen colonies. Spend the appropriate money to fix those states and work on rebuilding the nation from there. It would still take years to get everything back to the way it was, but it would be more logical to start out slow and work your way up."

"You're right, perhaps that is the way to go about it. I do have another question for you, Sam."

"What's that?" Freddie took Sam's hands and looked into her eyes, she couldn't get over how stern and yet soft his handsome eyes were. "Will you stay by my side through it all? Jake is my right hand man, but I want you to be the woman that stands with me." Sam let out a small gasp and blinked once.

"Are you asking me to be your…wife?"

"Did I stutter?" Sam laughed and wrapped her arms around Freddie's neck, she kissed him and nodded.

"Yes, I will! I love you so much, Freddie…"

"I love you too." So it would take years to reconstruct the country, but at least Sam knew she wasn't alone, and Freddie was right by her side. She would stick with him through everything, no matter what happened. They all knew that soon, everything would be just the way it needed to be.

* * *

I hope you liked that, let me know.


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